*SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2021* 'A wholly original, semi-autobiographical book on how to live, how to be calm and content with only a little, in a quietly humming garden' Daily Mail Beautifully illustrated, Seed to Dust is a reflective and restorative account of a life lived in harmony with nature. Marc Hamer has nurtured the same twelve acres of garden for decades. It's rarely visited so he is the only person who fully knows its secrets. But it's not his garden, and his relationship with its owner is at once distant and curiously intimate. In Seed to Dust, Marc takes us month-by-month through his experiences both working in the garden and outside it. We encounter new plants and wildlife, gardening folklore and the joys of manual work; we learn, too, about Marc's path from homelessness to family contentment, and the cycles of change that run through both the garden's life and our own. 'An absorbing combination of memoir, gardening folklore and natural history' Country Life 'Life-affirming... Absorbing' Sue Stuart-Smith, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Well-Gardened Mind

A captivating, life-affirming memoir of a life in nature that celebrates finding wonder in our world. 'A wonderful book... It has taught me a lot. I feel great love for it' MAX PORTER At the age of sixteen, Marc Hamer left home with only a rucksack and started walking. By day, he observed the animals and birds. By night, he slept under hedges, in woodlands and on riverbanks. It was the beginning of a life in nature. Years later, now working as a gardener and mole-catcher in the Welsh countryside, Marc tells of the experiences that have shaped him and of the wonders that he encounters each day. He considers, too, the fascinating ways of the mole and the myths that surround this curious creature. This beautiful, meditative book explores what nature can teach us about ourselves and our search for contentment. It is a celebration of living peacefully and finding joy in the world around us. 'It is rare to encounter such respect and understanding of nature' Rosamund Young, author of The Secret Life of Cows ** Longlisted for The Wainwright Prize 2019 ** (Published in hardback as How to Catch a Mole)